Before answering this question, we need to consider why mobile applications are so successful.
- Why are mobile users so keen on them, and what do they expect?
- What makes them so happy?
It's true that over the past 20 years, the use of mobile applications has grown considerably and completely revolutionized consumer behavior.
In 2022, there will be 255 billion new mobile application downloads worldwide, and an average of 5 hours spent on mobile applications every day.
New behaviors and consumption habits are leading users to have new expectations.
In the first place, surely the: "I'm going to be able to do now, right now what I want."
This imperative already contains three imperatives that must be respected:
- The application availability Is my application working?
- Its performance (loading speed) : Once I'm connected, can I quickly access what I want to do?
- And mobility that meets demand = access wherever I am.
To manage these requirements, it is essential to measure the performance of a mobile application using technical and usage indicators.
The raison d'être of these numerous applications is to provide users with the service or information they are looking for, in a time that borders on immediacy. It can be information. It can be playful, educational, recreational or essentially commercial: I want to buy a product, a service, compare offers...
Users easily switch from one app to another, so it's essential to stick as closely as possible to their expectations.
In all cases, the user must be at the center of your concerns. When it comes to mobile applications, user satisfaction is based on simple criteria:
- Access content quickly and intuitively,
- Carry out without stress the operation that motivated you to pick up your smartphone and open your application.
And to find out if you are really "up to par," you also need to measure customer satisfaction at key moments (connection, purchase, support, payment).
In this article we share with you the essential elements to consider when optimizing the user experience on a mobile application.
1- How to optimize the UX of a mobile application for an optimal user experience?
1- Regularly review the choices you made when creating your application: a regular check-up will ensure that your initial choices are still in line with your users' expectations.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
- Does the original functionality still meet my users' expectations?
- What are the most frequently used features?
- Which ones are much less so?
- Is there any point in keeping them? Don't they make the customer experience more cumbersome?
- Do I have any comments or feedback from users?
- Are there any recurring points of dissatisfaction or requests for improvement?
2. Review your objectives. Once you've clearly defined your objectives, you need to make sure they match your users' expectations. You need to be in a constant win/win relationship. To achieve your objectives, you need to find the right balance between your needs and those of your users.
That's why the design phase is so important.
- You've created yet another application for whom?
- How will it be used?
- How will it be different? What will set it apart?
- What's going to make it downloaded, stored and used?
By creating personas and robot portraits of your mobile users, you can better understand their behavior, habits and concerns.
Of course, all your good and bad ideas need to be tested with end-users, and a first mock-up needs to be tested extensively with them.
There are, of course, a few technical prerequisites that your users may not be aware of, but when you use them, they'll be able to tell whether your application meets their expectations.
2. The impact of content on the UX of your mobile applications: the keys to a successful experience
Content on a mobile application needs to be thought through in a very specific way. It can't be a copy-paste of the text you have on your website, for example.
When it comes to content, you really need to aim for simplicity. A small screen already brings with it certain constraints, so you must avoid at all costs unwanted content that can confuse the user and distract him from what he's there for!
By breaking this content down into smaller parts, you guide your mobile user through the site. In a way, you're the one in control, taking them where you want them to go.
You need to simplify each step. Regardless of the number of steps, they must flow naturally, always keeping the end goal in mind. This logic of natural progression is the same as on the web: a clear customer journey reduces friction and increases conversion.
How you use your application is also very important. Test it yourself.
How do you grip your smartphone, one-handed or two-handed? Where do you place your fingers on the screen? Do you read horizontally or vertically (portrait or landscape mode)?
By answering these questions, you'll be in a better position to decide on the placement of text and buttons. There's nothing more frustrating for a user than deleting content and having to re-enter it because the "delete" button wasn't in the right place!
Your content should also allow a certain degree of interaction. Using a cell phone makes users more active, as they have to touch, swipe, manipulate... to complete their journey.
The mobile experience is far less static than that of a computer screen. In addition to being concise, your text needs to be dynamic to encourage and guide your user to take action.
Finally, in the last stage, you have your typical user, you have submitted your mock-up, now it's up to you to seduce them with a design attractive design.
3- Interface design for mobile applications: different practices
It's essential to respect your brand's graphic charter and its environment - logos, colors, etc.
The design must respect one of the strong principles applied to the content phase: SIMPLICITY
The flat design is a continuation of the thinking outlined above, as it aims to simplify and streamline graphic elements. Flat design focuses on content and functionality. It appeals to the user's imagination - the usefulness of an element is more induced than signified.
Flat design is a style of mobile app graphic design that's fairly consistent with the principles set out above, but there are also other styles that can help you build the design of your mobile applications :
- Material design, which takes the basics of flat design and integrates shadows, movement and depth for greater realism.
- Skeuomorphism imitates the graphics of a real object, for example a note-taking application that looks like a real notebook. The cursor would be a pen, ...
- Brutalist design: deliberately ultra-minimalist, with a focus on colors and geometric shapes.
- Always respecting the brand's environment, it's important to use bright colors. The font should be that of the brand's graphic charter, in a clean, uncluttered environment.
All this needs to be analyzed in the light of your users' needs, expectations and consumption habits.
4- Go-live and testing: essential steps to guarantee a quality UX on your mobile application
Once you reach the production stage, your users must take control again to use your application in real-life situations, in their own environment. They will report back to you with a number of observations that you will need to study, validate, and understand.
There are several methods for doing this, which you need to compare to get an overall view of the improvements you need to make to optimize the user experience of your mobile application.
L'AB Testing consists of proposing several variants of the same element that differ on a single criterion, in order to determine which version is the most successful with your users.
You can also use remote user testing, which enables you to remotely video-record the operations performed by a user on your mobile application.
The technique of polling a significant sample of users will also enable you to obtain feedback on several criteria that you have determined. Be careful, however, not to induce responses in the questions.
In addition to this qualitative data, you'll need to study quantitative data (number of screen views, number of clicks on a button or object, time spent in the application per day, as well as the volume of uninstallations).
Frequently asked questions (FAQs) are also invaluable, as they reflect the misunderstandings encountered by your users.
Whichever method you use, there are a few key steps to follow:
- Defining the tests: what are you going to test? Are you going to address a functional, technical, or ergonomic scope? Are you going to test the entire application or a specific part of it? Once the scope has been defined, you will need to write your test cases, which will define the initial context, the actions to be taken, and the expected results. In practical terms, these test cases often follow a user scenario (e.g., log in, search, add to cart, pay) to validate the end-to-end experience.
- The tests are then carried out using one of the above methods
- An analysis and correction phase is then carried out by your in-house teams.
- It's a good idea to loop back to your users to make sure that the corrections you've made correspond to their expectations. This is known as User Acceptance Testing (UAT).
Once you've completed all these tests, you'll need to promote the launch of your application and ensure the quality you're delivering to your users.
5- Ensure the functional quality of your application in real time (user monitoring)
A user experience-focused monitoring solution can notify you in real time of any downtime, slowdowns, display issues on a page, or worse, payment page unavailability. This is exactly how synthetic monitoring works, automatically replaying key paths in both pre-production and production environments.
The monitoring solution 2Be-FFICIENT monitoring solution focuses on the user experience, providing real-time information on all malfunctions 24/7.
One or more scenarios representative of those performed by users of themobile mobile is played from start to finish by the 2Be automaton, which acts exactly like a client, using all the application's functions as a human being would.
In the event of a problem, the 2Be PLC alerts the relevant teams even before the user encounters the problem. This alert includes a pre-diagnosis that identifies the source of the error and enables rapid rectification. This means you can resolve problems more efficiently.
By adopting the 2Be-FFICIENT solution, you considerably reduce the risk of loss of sales and image.
This proactive, real-time analysis contributes greatly to optimizing theUX of a mobile application.
